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March 19, 2013

IRAs and Taxes, Pt. 1: When Are IRA Funds Taxed?

More On Tax Planning

from The Advisor's Professional Library

IRAs: In General
Individual Retirement Accounts are highly popular tools for contributing funds that grow on a tax deferred basis. Depending on the type of IRA, the accumulation can be tax free.

Precious Metal Taxation
Precious metals can be used to better diversify a portfolio but can be volatile. The tax implications of investing in these types of assets vary depending upon the situation.

As part of AdvisorOne’s Special Report, 20 Days of Tax Planning Advice for 2013, throughout the month of March, we are partnering with our Summit Business Media sister service,Tax Facts Online, to take a deeper dive into certain tax planning issues in a convenient Q&A format. In this fifth article, we look at converting a retirement plan to a Roth IRA.

Q. When are funds in an IRA taxed?

Funds accumulated in a traditional IRA generally are not taxable until they actually are distributed. Funds accumulated in a Roth IRA may or may not be taxable on actual distribution. Special rules may treat funds accumulated in an IRA as a “deemed distribution” and, thus, includable in income.

A distribution of a nontransferable, nonforfeitable annuity contract that provides for payments to begin by age 70½ and not to extend beyond certain limits is not taxable, but payments made under such an annuity would be includable in income under the appropriate rules.

A contribution (excess or otherwise) may be distributed income tax free in certain circumstances(provided, in the case of a traditional IRA, that no deduction was allowed for the contribution). If net income allocable to the contribution is distributed before the due date for filing the tax return for the year in which the contribution was made, it must be included in income for the tax year for which the contribution was made even if the distribution actually was made after the end of that year. With respect to distributions of excess contributions after this deadline, the net income amount is included in income in the year distributed. Any net income amount also may be subject to penalty tax as an early distribution.

An individual may transfer, without tax, the individual’s IRA to his or her spouse or former spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree or a written instrument incident to the divorce. The IRA then is maintained for the benefit of the former spouse. Any other assignment of an IRA is a deemed distribution of the amount assigned.

Where an individual rolled over his interest in a tax sheltered annuity to an IRA, pursuant to a QDRO, the subsequent transfer of the IRA to the individual’s spouse was considered a “transfer incident to a divorce” and, thus, nontaxable to either spouse.

A taxpayer was liable for taxes on a distribution from his IRA that he subsequently turned over to his ex-wife in satisfaction of a family court order because it was not a “transfer incident to divorce” and the family court order was not a QDRO because it did not specifically require the transfer of assets to come from the IRA. A transfer of funds between the IRAs of a husband and wife that does not come within the divorce exception is a deemed distribution despite IRC provisions that provide that no gain is recognized on transfers between spouses.

The transfer of a portion of a husband’s IRA to his wife to be placed in an IRA for her benefit that was the result of a private written agreement between the two that was not considered incident to a divorce was not eligible for nontaxable treatment under IRC Section 408(d)(6).

Where a taxpayer received a full distribution from his IRA and endorsed the distribution check over to his soon-to-be-ex-wife, the husband was determined to have failed to satisfy the requirements for a non-taxable transfer incident to divorce and was liable for taxation on the entire proceeds of the IRA distribution.

Where two traditional IRAs were classified as community property, the distributions of the deceased spouse’s community interest in the IRAs to relatives other than her surviving husband were taxable only to those recipients and not to the husband.

State community property laws, although disregarded for some purposes, are not preempted by IRC Section 408(g). In a case of first impression, the Tax Court ruled that the recognition of community property interests in IRAs would conflict with existing federal tax rules. IRC Section 408(g) requires application without regard to community property laws. By reason of IRC Section 408(g), the former spouse is not treated as a distributee on any portion of the IRA distribution for purposes of federal income tax rules despite the former spouse’s community property interest in the assets. Therefore, a distribution from an IRA to a former spouse is taxable to the account holder unless it is executed pursuant to decree of divorce, or other written maintenance decree under IRC Section 408(d)(6).

Where taxpayers requested that an IRA be reclassified under state marital property law from individual property to marital property, no distribution under IRC Section 408(d)(1) was deemed to have occurred.

The involuntary garnishment of a husband’s IRA and resulting transfer of such funds to the former spouse to satisfy arrearages in child support payments was a deemed distribution to the husband because it discharged a legal obligation owed by the husband.

Where a taxpayer transferred funds from a single IRA into two newly created IRAs, the direct trustee-to-trustee transfers were not considered distributions under IRC Section 408(d)(1). The division of a decedent’s IRA into separate subaccounts does not result in current taxation of the IRA beneficiaries.

If any assets of an individual retirement account are used to purchase collectibles (works of art, gems, antiques, metals, etc.), the amount so used will be treated as distributed from the account (and also may be subject to penalty as an early distribution). A plan may invest in certain gold or silver coins issued by the United States , any coins issued under the laws of a state, and certain platinum coins. A plan may buy gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bullion of a fineness sufficient for the commodities market if the bullion remains in the physical possession of the IRA trustee. A plan may purchase shares in a grantor trust holding such bullion.

If any part of an individual retirement account is used by the individual as security for a loan, that portion is deemed distributed on the first day of the tax year in which the loan was made. Amounts rolled over into an IRA from a qualified plan by one of the twenty-five highest paid employees, however, may be pledged as security for repayments that may have to be made to the plan in the event of an early plan termination. A less-than-sixty-day interest-free loan from IRA accumulations is possible under the rollover rules.

If the owner of an individual retirement annuity borrows money under or by use of the contract in any tax year, including a policy loan, the annuity ceases to qualify as an individual retirement annuity as of the first day of the tax year and the fair market value of the contract would be deemed distributed on that day.

If an individual engages in a prohibited transaction during a year, his or her individual retirement account ceases to qualify as such as of the first day of that tax year; the individual is not liable for a prohibited transaction tax. The fair market value of all the assets in the account is deemed distributed on that day. If the account is maintained by an employer, only the separate account of the individual involved is disqualified and deemed distributed.

The transfer to an individual retirement account of a personal note received in a terminating distribution from a qualified plan and the holding of that note is a prohibited transaction.

The use of IRA funds to invest in a personal retirement residence of the taxpayer is considered a prohibited transaction under IRC Section 4975(c)(1)(D) and, thus, is treated as a distribution.

Whether a purchase of life insurance in conjunction with an individual retirement plan but with non-plan funds constitutes a prohibited transaction apparently depends on the circumstances. The IRS has held that the purchase of insurance on the depositor’s life by the trustee of the account with non-plan funds amounted to an indirect prohibited transaction by the depositor. The IRS also has ruled that the solicitation by an association of individuals who maintain individual retirement plans with the association for enrollment in a group life plan did not result in a prohibited transaction where premiums would be paid by the individuals and not out of plan funds.

Institutions may offer limited financial incentives to IRA and Keogh holders without running afoul of the prohibited transaction rules provided certain conditions are met. Generally speaking, the value of the incentive must not exceed $10 for deposits of less than $5,000 and $20 for deposits of $5,000 or more. These requirements also are applicable to SEPs that allow participants to transfer their SEP balances to IRAs sponsored by other financial institutions and to SIMPLE IRAs.

A distribution of any amount may be received free of federal income tax to the extent the amount is contributed within sixty days to another plan under the rollover rules.

Distributions from traditional and Roth IRAs are not subject to the 3.8 percent Medicare contribution tax imposed under the Affordable Care Act. The tax equals 3.8 percent of the lesser of a taxpayer’s net investment income for the taxable year, or the excess (if any) of the taxpayer’s modified adjusted gross income for the year, over a threshold amount ($200,000 for a taxpayer filing an individual return and $250,000 for a taxpayer filing jointly). Internal Revenue Code Sec. 1411 specifically accepts distributions from IRAs and other qualified plans from the definition of “net investment income.”